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Prince of Darkness
Prince of Darkness (also spelt as The Prince of Darkness) was a competitor robot that fought in Series 1 of Robot Wars. It performed well in the Gauntlet and Trial stages to reach the Arena Semi-Finals during its only appearance, but lost to eventual Grand Finalist T.R.A.C.I.E. there despite still being mobile. Design Prince of Darkness was a tall, wedged box-shaped robot featuring two outside wheels and wooden armour. It had a pair of removable spikes as its weapons, as well as a front scoop for the Snooker Trial, and the team claimed that it was powerful enough to pull a car as a result of its 14.4V drill motors. The robot was painted dark red and black for its Arena battles, with its logo and a warning sign printed on its top panel and front wedge. Prince of Darkness took under five hours to build using parts from an old wheelchair, and was unusual in that it entered its heat in a partially-finished state. The robot competed in the Gauntlet and Trial stages in bright red primer and without its spikes attached, with its name written on the front wedge in marker pen. This led to Prince of Darkness being mocked by Jonathan Pearce and the show's hosts for its decidedly amateurish appearance, with Pearce and Philippa Forrester jokingly describing it as a homemade 'go-kart', and Jeremy Clarkson deeming it 'miserable'. Clarkson ultimately considered Prince of Darkness to be the worst robot he had ever seen despite its strong Gauntlet and Trial runs, even thanking the T.R.A.C.I.E. team for eliminating it in its Semi-Final battle. It was repainted part-way through the heat. Robot History Series 1 Prince of Darkness entered Heat F, and was the last robot in that heat to traverse the Gauntlet. It started by immediately choosing the middle route, easily crossing the see-saw before negotiating over the ramp. As it descended, Matilda came in and rammed Prince of Darkness as it crossed over the line, pushing and steering it away from the end zone. Matilda pushed Prince of Darkness against a spiked pyramid, but got herself wedged in the process, allowing Prince of Darkness to escape and cross the line, safely reaching the end zone and qualifying for the Trial stage. Along with the other four surviving robots, Prince of Darkness fought in the Snooker Trial, this time equipped with a large scoop in order to guide the snooker balls around. It charged into The Blob as the latter scattered the balls around the arena, and potted its first ball as Skarab soon followed. Prince of Darkness manoeuvred a few more balls, potting its second and third ones in rapid succession as the other competitors - Eubank the Mouse, The Blob and T.R.A.C.I.E. - lost mobility. Prince of Darkness scooped up a few more balls, eventually scoring six as 'cease' was called and winning the Snooker Trial convincingly. Due to winning the Snooker Trial, a newly-repainted Prince of Darkness advanced to the Arena stage, facing T.R.A.C.I.E. in its Semi Final. The battle started slowly, with Prince of Darkness moving towards T.R.A.C.I.E. before turning left, allowing T.R.A.C.I.E. to impale one of its spikes against its wedge and push it close to a grille. Both robots separated, before T.R.A.C.I.E. rammed Prince of Darkness side-on, puncturing its left-hand tyre with its other front spike. Another charge from T.R.A.C.I.E. caught Prince of Darkness by the wedge and left-hand tyre, again causing more damage to the tyre, before T.R.A.C.I.E. shoved Prince of Darkness from the right-hand side, spearing the other tyre. This attack caused Prince of Darkness to tip slightly, with both robots now stuck together and open to attack from Sergeant Bash, Dead Metal and Matilda. Eventually, they separated, with T.R.A.C.I.E. ending up on a grille and Prince of Darkness crawling along the arena floor on its punctured tyres until 'cease' was called. Despite T.R.A.C.I.E. being technically immobilised, Prince of Darkness was still eliminated from the First Wars, much to the delight of Jeremy Clarkson. Results |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 0 *Losses: 1 NOTE: Prince of Darkness' successful Gauntlet and Trial runs are not included Series Record Outside Robot Wars In addition to Prince of Darkness, team member Matthew Wilson also built an antweight called TriumphANT, which competed in the Antweight World Series with mixed success.http://www.robotwars101.org/profile.php?class=Ant&id=82&name=TriumphANT Its best performance came in Antweight World Series 6, where it reached the Semi-Finals before losing to Anto 3. Trivia *Prince of Darkness was the winner of the only ever Snooker Trial, doing so by potting six balls compared to one ball by Skarab. *Prince of Darkness is the only robot to be completed during the main competition, having been repainted and fitted with spikes before its Semi-Final battle. *Prince of Darkness was the first robot to have its tyres punctured by another robot's weapon. *"Prince of Darkness" is a term used in John Milton's poem Paradise Lost referring to Satan as the embodiment of evil. References Category:UK Series competitors Category:Middleweights Category:Robots to complete the Gauntlet Category:Robots from Greater London Category:Robots with Spikes Category:Robots that only progressed in the Gauntlet or Trials Category:Wooden Robots Category:Robots which debuted in Series 1 Category:Robots which lost their only battle Category:Robots which only fought in Series 1